Falling back into place
by Nedwards23
Summary: Continuation from the stairwell scene in season 4 but with my own spin, multi chapter story. Also involved Spencer, Hanna and Emily.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one: A brief encounter.

"Miss Montgomery you shouldn't be in here" Ezra said as he balled his fists up trying to prevent himself from beating Connor to a pulp, for the way he has been treating Aria. Aria said nothing at Ezra's words and simply just looked up at him before she walked out of the locker room. Ezra had to stop himself from not only watching her as she left but he also had to stop himself from immediately following her, as it would make the situation even worse; if that was even possible. Instead he just looked at the floor. Seconds later once he was sure she had left he averted his gaze from the floor and sent Connor a warning death glare. A silent warning that if he said anything else to Aria he would be in trouble. He wanted to give him a detention or a bloody nose but he knew he couldn't do either. If he gave him a detention it would look like the rumours were true and if he gave him a bloody nose he might as well just shout it from the school roof how in love he was, is with Aria Montgomery. He didn't waste another second on the dumb teenager as he too quickly exited the locker room like Aria had in search of her. He searched the halls frantically before he bumped into Hanna Marin.

"Everything okay?" she asked him as she regained her balanced.

"Sorry about that and no, I'm looking for Aria, have you seen her?" He asked desperation clear in his voice.

"I don't think that's a good idea Mr. Fitz" Hanna said putting emphasis on the words Mr. Fitz letting him know that he wasn't 'Ezra' anymore.

"I know but please, have you seen her?" He pleaded. All she had to do was look into his eyes to know it was important that he found her.

"Yeah, I saw her heading to the North wing." She replied not understanding what had happened to make him sound so desperate.

"Thank you" Ezra said as he broke out into a slow jog as he went in the direction of the North wing in search of Aria, before Hanna even had a chance to ask what had happened and why he was looking for her. Within minutes Ezra had found her on the North wing stairs, a place that hardly anyone visited, Ezra scolded himself for not looking there in the first place.

He can see she has her phone out and is deleting messages, he peers over the railing to get a better look and cannot believe what people are sending her. She deletes one more before burying her head in her hands and doing her up most best not to cry. Ezra stayed silent for a moment before saying something.

"Are you okay?" It was a stupid question he knew she wasn't. All Aria did was scrunch up her face and slightly shake her head no.

"What happened in there?" She didn't answer him so he descended the last case of stairs so he could see her face before continuation his questions

"Before I came in?" He asked, he had only managed to catch the end of her conversation with Connor and wanted to know the whole story. She still couldn't look at him and faced away from him. She also wouldn't speak to him so he carried on talking, if she wasn't going to talk he was.

"Aria those guys are jerks, you can't let some stupid rumour get to you" He said trying his best to make the situation better.

Aria instantly shot her head up and finally spoke.

"It's not just some stupid rumour if there's some truth to it Ezra" Aria told him through gritted teeth trying to keep as much emotion out of her voice as she possibly could. At her words Ezra was renowned speechless, having no idea what he could or should even begin to say. Just then a voice spoke out.

"Well, isn't this cozy?" At the words the pair of them turned around to face the voice.

"Shut up Noel" Aria said as she gathered her things and stood up.

"What; have I ruined the mood" He said sarcastically loving the fact he had caught the pair talking when were supposedly 'broken up'

"You're pathetic you know that" Aria said as she barged passed Noel and headed home for the rest of the day.

"You know you love me really" Noel called after her causing a scoff from Ezra before Noel too left, leaving Ezra stood at the bottom of the stairs doing his best to process what had happened in the last 20 minutes and what he could do to fix it, and stop all the rumours from spreading even if technically they were true. He hated seeing Aria upset, it broke his heart. He wanted to do everything he could to see her smile again

**A/N: So this is the beginning of a multi chapter story I am working on. I know this rather short but they do get longer, I promise. Review and let me know what you think and also if you want a continuation or not. As always, thank you for reading I hope you enjoyed it. Sorry for any mistakes **


	2. Chapter 2: Detective Spencer

Chapter 2: Detective Spencer

Two weeks later.

"So, sleepover at my house ladies?" Hanna asked before taking a bite from her salad.

"Sounds good to me" Emily replied.

"And me" Spencer piped in stealing a tomato from Hanna's plate

"Hey! Get your own" Hanna said hitting Spencer's hand with her fork. "What about you Aria? You in?" All three girls turned their eyes towards the brunette that was a million miles away. "Aria? Aria?" Hanna said, still Aria was oblivious to the conversation going on between her friends.

"ARIA!" Spencer all but yelled snapping the girl out of her thoughts.

"Sorry, what?" she said shaking her head slightly to rid her thoughts.

"Sleepover, tonight, my house, you in?" Hanna asked for the second time.

"I don't know Han" Aria replied still not 100% in the conversation.

"Come on Ar it's been ages" Emily pleaded, adding her puppy dog eyes in for good measures.

"I'll think about it Em, I gotta go" Aria said collecting her things and walking out of the cafeteria leaving all three girls puzzled.

"What's up with her?" Hanna asked aloud.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out" Spencer said collecting her own things and quickly following Aria as not to lose her. Once she almost caught up with her she saw her go into the girls bathroom, she followed and entered seconds after she then locked the main door after checking that no one else was in there of course.

"Aria" Spencer called out. "I know you're in here, it's Spencer"

"I know it's you Spence, I'd know your voice anywhere" Aria replied quietly through the stall door

"Of course, sorry." Spencer replied, leaning against the stall door. "What's going on with you Ar?" Spencer asked worried about her best friend.

"Nothing. I'm fine." Aria said as strongly as she could but her voice was shaky and she knew Spencer knew she was far from okay.

"No you're not. Talk to me, please" Spencer pleaded, she hated seeing her friend like this, for the last few days she had been distant, not completely there when they were talking, and she was hardly eating and always looked like she could cry any minute.

"I can't" Aria choked out wiping away stray tears.

"Yes you can, please, I want to help."

"You can't stop it" Aria brokenly replied.

"Stop what?" Spencer asked having no idea what the petite brunette was talking about.

"Stop these!" Aria said angrily and she shoved a hand full of folded papers under the stall door. Spencer bent down and picked the folded papers up. Curious as to what they were she unfolded one. On the piece of paper was just one word 'SLUT'. Still confused she unfolded another one that said 'Whore'. Getting an idea of the theme of these 'notes' Spencer read the rest of them between the 11 Aria had posted through to her 3 of them said Whore, 4 said slut, 1 called her easy and the rest were asking if she wanted to 'pull an all nighter' or if they were 'old enough' for her. Spencer was disgusted by every single one she read and couldn't believe Aria had been subjected to this. She took a few moments to get over the shock before talking again.

"How long has this been going on?" She asked from the other side of the stall door. Aria took a big deep breath before answering.

"Ever since the Connor incident" She squeaked out quieter than a mouse.

"Two weeks!" Spencer shrieked raising her voice. "This has been happening for two weeks and you didn't tell anyone, you didn't tell me. Why?" Spencer asked slightly offended that she didn't come to her sooner as well as still being angry that her friend was being victimized by the student body.

"Because it's true!" Aria shot back without a second thought.

"You're kidding right!" Spencer asked adding a scoff. "Aria, you are not a slut or a whore, or easy! Hell if you were any of those not only would you have slept with Ezra the first time you met him in the bar, you would have also had half the school if not all of it by now."

"But..." Aria began but Spencer cut her off.

"NO ARIA. You're not any of the things these people are calling you and you have to stop believing they are right because they are not. You are an amazing person Aria and you are smart enough to know that this school is full of idiots and bullies that just want to bring you down, don't let them bring you down, you can't let them win, you're better than that." Spencer pleaded praying Aria would listen to her. There was a silence before Spencer heard the lock on the stall door click open and the small brunette exited sheepishly.

"You're right" Aria said quietly wiping her tears away. Spencer involved her in the tightest hug she had ever given. "Spence, Spence, I can't breathe" Aria chocked out, trying to get some air into her lungs.

"I don't care" Spencer said holding her even closer. After what felt like the longest hug of her lifetime Spencer let go. "Now since we already missed the first lesson of the afternoon how about we miss the rest and go and get some pizza?" Spencer suggested trying her best to cheer Aria up.

"Sounds good to me." Aria replied "But first things first" Aria said taking the notes out of Spencer's hand "These need going in the trash." Aria said dumping them into the bin near the sinks.

"I couldn't agree more." Spencer said before unlocking the bathroom and the girls exited not only the room but the school for the day.

Little did the girls know as they exited the bathroom someone was hiding in the shadows who had been listening to their entire conversation and had a plan up their sleeve for the next day.

**Hey guys, hope you enjoyed chapter 2, leave a review and let me know what you think. Chapter 3 coming soon ****J**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: MysteryMan.

The next day Aria woke up a little brighter, after realizing Spencer was right, she was not any of the things those pathetic Rosewood High students had called her she was feeling rather good about herself. She found herself actually not hating going to school for the first time in two weeks. Aria never really loved school but she didn't hate it either, although she had to admit it was a lot easier getting up in the morning when she and Ezra were together, seeing his smile and hearing his voice woke her up in the morning but now that they were broken up a part of her dreaded it but not entirely as deep down she still had feeling for him, a part of her still loved him and always would even if she couldn't look at him without a million memories flashing through her mind in the blink of an eye.

Aria arrived at the school just in time to spend five minutes with the girls. She had given Hanna's a miss last night and decided to dedicate the night to pampering herself and indulging herself in a mountain of books. Spencer had arranged for them to meet at Aria's locker so that she could check if there was any more nasty notes and get rid of them before Aria could even know of their existence, however Spencer was pleasantly surprised by what she found in their place and couldn't keep the smile off her face.

"What are you smiling at?" Aria asked Spencer as she approached the girls.

"Good morning to you too" Hanna said sarcastically

"Sorry Han" Aria said giving the blonde a hug.

"Seriously though what are you smiling about it's kind of creepy" Hanna said causing Emily to agree with her.

"You'll see later" Spencer said cryptically "We should go, and let Aria put her things in her locker since the bells about to go, bye Ar see you in chemistry." Spencer said before dragging Hanna along with her to History.

"Things must be going well with Toby if she's smiling like that" Emily said aloud

"Thanks for the image Em" Aria said sarcastically

"Sorry, see you in math" Emily said before leaving Aria alone. Aria unlocked her locker apprehensively and took a second before opening it up, hoping there were no more notes.

Slowly she opened the door and her stomach dropped. Inside was a stack of notes yet again, only this time they were stacked neatly, like someone had placed them in there. Aria's stomach then became a pit as she began to think 'A' had something to do with this.

She took the stack out of her locker and dared to read them there and then instead of a small bathroom stall. Upon opening the first one her face changed from a frown to a smile, a smile that got bigger and bigger the more notes she read.

The first note she read had simply the word 'Beautiful' written on it.

The second said the word 'Intelligent'

The third said 'Kind'

The forth said 'Smart'

The fifth said 'Petite'

The sixth said 'Strong'

The seventh said 'Brave'

The eighth said 'elegant'

The ninth said 'graceful'

The tenth and final note had more than one word on it and said 'Aria, these are the words that count; these are the words you should listen to. Forget the other notes and focus on these, these are the ones that tell the truth the ones that matter, remember that.

P.S. If you ever need me, you know where to find me.'

After reading the last note Aria couldn't help the tears that were trailing down her cheeks. Only unlike yesterday these were happy tears, she couldn't believe what Ezra had done for her, especially now that they were broken up, even though he hadn't signed the note she knew it was him by his writing. Aria took a small second before wiping her tears away and looking around to see if anyone had seen them. She was shocked to find the hallway was empty not a soul was in them, she took a glance at her watch 8.20, 'crap' Aria thought, she had missed nearly half of first period. 'Screw it' Aria though. She was doing much more important things.

She reached into her locker, right at the back and pulled out a rather tattered piece of paper before checking something on it before throwing it back into her locker, shutting it and practically sprinting down the hall. With in minutes she reached her destination and knocked on the door.

"Come in" The voice called, not even looking up to see who their visitor was. Aria opened the door and stepped in gently closing it behind her.

"You didn't have to do that you know" She said causing Ezra to stop what he was doing and look up at her.

"Do what?" He asked playing the dumb card.

"The notes" She said holding them up so he could see them. "I know it was you, the hand writing was a dead give away" Ezra kept his eyes on her whilst she spoke then looked down once she had finished. He placed the lid back on his pen and placed it back in his pot before speaking.

"You got me" He told her holding his hands up momentarily in surrender.

"Why?" Aria asked.

"Why what?"

"Why did you write them?"

"Because you needed a reminder of who you really are" He told her not taking his eyes off of her.

"You didn't have to do that" She said once again only this time she received a reply.

"Yes I did" He shot back before standing up and walking toward her.

"Why didn't you tell me what was happening Ar?" He asked.

"Because it's none of your business any more." She told him looking away.

"Yes it is." He told her placing his hands on her arms and making her look at him.

"They wouldn't be saying that stuff if it wasn't for me."

"It takes two to tango Ezra."

"Exactly! Meaning this is my fault too." Aria sighed in annoyance at the fact that he was right.

"Fine, if you want to blame yourself too that's fine." Aria said moving out of Ezra's hold and pacing the room.

"How can I fix this?" Ezra asked hating to see what has been happening to the love of his life.

"There's nothing you can do Ezra." Aria replied frustrated with the situation and leaned on one of the desks.

"If you think of anything, anything at all you let me know and I'll do it, I promise" Ezra said looking at Aria again who seemed to be more interested in her shoes.

"There isn't but if I think of anything I'll let you know" She said avoiding his gaze.

"Thank you" He said.

The room then became quiet and there was a silence between the two however for the first time since their break up it wasn't awkward it was just silent.

"I should go, I have Chemistry and if I'm late I'll get a detention"

"Do you want me to write you a note to give to the office for missing Math?" Ezra asked, not wanting her to get into any trouble.

"Yes please, if you don't mind"

"No problem" Ezra replied as he began filling in the small yellow form, he handed it to Aria and the tips of their fingers touched making both of them feel a spark of electricity. They looked at each other briefly before Aria made her way to the door, just as she opened the door Ezra spoke up.

"I miss you" He said causing Aria to stop in her tracks, she took a deep breath before turning and looking at Ezra. "I miss you too" She said before turning and leaving.

**Hey guys here's chapter three I hope you enjoy it. I really enjoyed writing this chapter it's one of my favourites ****J**** Please review and let me know what you think. As you all know reviews = motivation and updates. **


	4. Chapter 4 I need you (Part one)

Chapter 4

_Hey, so i don't know if anyone is still interested in this but i have quite a few chapters typed up so if i get at least 3 reviews asking me to continue i will other wise i will just post what i have an not bother ending this properly._

_Any who, hope you enjoy and pretty please review_

Two weeks later and Aria found herself happy again. Since Ezra had posted the notes in her locker she hadn't received anymore negative or positive ones. She was on her way to English with the girls and was actually happy to see Ezra but was surprised when they got there to see they had a substitute. Aria desperately wanted to know as to why Ezra wasn't there but didn't want people to start gossiping about why she was the one to ask so instead she stayed quiet. The substitute handed out their work then asked if their were any questions. Before she had even managed to get the whole sentence out Mona's hand was up like a lightening bolt.

"Yes?" The teacher asked giving Mona permission to ask her question.

"How come Mr. Fitz isn't here?"

"He's off sick" Was all she said before sitting down at his desk and reading her lesson plan for the day. Aria had never been a fan of Mona's but was glad she had asked where Ezra was. Although the substitute had said he was out sick she was positive that was not true, Ezra never got sick, he was lucky like that. Aria was sure something else was wrong and she was determined as ever to get to the bottom of it. She stayed throughout English as not to cause suspicion but as soon as the bell rang, and the class was over she hopped straight into her car and headed to Ezra's apartment. She know it was risky with him being her teacher, again but they were friends right?

Within less than ten minutes she had arrived, parked and walked up the three flights of stairs and was now facing the wooden door with the letters 3B attached to them. Before knocking Aria took a moment to gain her thoughts, then before she could back out she knocked. She waited for an answer but was greeted with silence, she considered maybe he was out, but she was sure she heard a noise so she knocked again. Again he didn't open the door but she definitely heard him sigh. Again she thought about walking away but then thought of how Ezra was always there for her when she needed him and this was her turn to step up and return the favour. Letting out her own sigh she knocked once more, only this time with more determination causing the knocks to echo throughout the whole small apartment.

"Go away Hardy" Ezra shouted through the oak door from his place on his couch. 'Finally a reply' Aria thought even though he thought it was Hardy.

"It's not Hardy" She hesitantly said through the door.

"Aria? What are you doing here?" He asked, still not bothering answering the door and deciding to pour himself another scotch.

"You weren't in class" she said before adding "What's wrong? What happened?" she asked wanting to get through to him.

"Who says something's wrong? Aren't I allowed the day off?" He asked pissed off, not at her, at the whole satiation, at the reason why he had taken the day off.

"Of course you're allowed but it isn't like you, I just wanted to make sure you were okay" She said softly through the door causing Ezra's eyes to water slightly at the thought of her still caring about his well being even when they are broken up. He took a second before wiping his eyes and replying.

"I'm fine" Was his reply as he downed his glass of Scotch and poured himself yet another.

"That's bullshit and you know it. I can tell from here you're not okay, now please open the door and let me help you." Aria said, annoyance in her tone at the fact that he hadn't let her in.

"Go away Aria I don't need someone to look after me"

"Maybe so but you need someone to talk to, you can't just bottle it all up!" She said almost shouting at him through the door. In return to her words all she got was silence. Having had enough of what could only be described as childishness she sighed before reaching into her bag and pulling out the spare key to his apartment. She took another breath before putting the key in the lock, and then unlocked the door letting herself in. Once inside she could see that she was right Ezra wasn't okay. He was laid on his couch in his work trousers and unbuttoned plaid shirt with an old Hollis undershirt showing. Each item of clothing was covered in a mass of wrinkles and it was clear he had been wearing the items for at least a few days. Come to think of it Aria remembered seeing him in the outfit on Saturday Morning when she almost ran into him at the store but she had hid behind some cans. After taking in his attire she took notice of his face. He was unshaven with small stubble which she couldn't help but admit to herself suited him and made him all the more attractive. Once shaking those thoughts out of her head she looked at his eyes, he was looking away from her but she could see they were red and puffy, clearly he had been crying, as well as having hardly any sleep. Next she took a look at his hair, it was all over the place meaning he had dragged his hands through it numerous amounts of time. She then looked at his coffee table. On the table were two large, not to mention extra strong scotch bottles, one was empty and the other was touching the half way point having been opened in the early-ish hours and with it now being noon was in full affect on Ezra making his speech slurred, his breath taste of alcohol and his thoughts going so fast he could barely keep up with them.

Although Aria took in his appearance in detail it only took her a few mere seconds. Once she had done this she placed her bag and Ezra's key on the table before speaking. "What happened Ezra?" She asked again, sympathy present on her face. He looked up from his scotch and the look on his face broke her heart in two. He looked like a lost puppy, completely broken and her heart went out to him. He tried to get words out of his mouth but couldn't and just ended up looking like a fish opening and closing his mouth. Once he couldn't get any words to come out of his mouth he swung his legs off the couch, making room for Aria and looked down nursing his Scotch. Aria took his movement as a sign he didn't mind her sitting next to him so she took a seat, she sat close to him but left a few inches gap between them. She placed her hand on his forearm.

"What ever it is, it's gonna be okay" She said giving him a reassuring smile even though he didn't look up to see it.

"No it won't" Was all he said as he polished off another glass of his Scotch and went to make a move to refill it, but Aria put her hand out to stop him.

"Don't, please. Talk to me" She said looking at him with that smile of hers again only this time he looked back and saw it.

"It's a mess Aria" He said leaving his glass and bottle on the table and leaning back into his couch.

"I don't think I should drag you in it" he added.

"Well I wanna be dragged into it, so tell me, please Ezra" She said practically begging him to fill her in on what had happened. Even though he was beyond grateful she was there and that she cared he didn't want to drag her yet again into his baby drama, she was only seventeen she shouldn't have to deal with his problems as well as her own, she had already been though enough these last couple of years. But as he looked at her he knew he had no choice but to tell her, she deserved to know, even if it wouldn't change anything between the two of them.

"Maggie lied" He told her, hoping he wouldn't have to go into detail. Saying it out loud made it all the more real and he couldn't stand the thought that he had lost the little boy he thought was his son and who he had came to love and cherish with all that he had. Unfortunately for him Aria needed more information to be able to put two and two together.

"What did she lie about?" Aria asked still confused about the whole situation.

"About Malcolm, He's not…." Ezra had to take a moment and swallow the huge lump that was causing a pain in his chest. However it didn't work as a few tears slipped down his face. "…He's not mine" He choked out as Aria gasped at his statement. 'He has to be lying' she thought, she hoped but his reaction to his words said otherwise. He was telling her the truth and the reality was killing him causing his tears to come in thick and fast. Without thinking Aria grabbed him and pulled him towards her into a hug. He buried his head in her right shoulder and cried harder than he thought was possible. He had cried before she had come over but not like this, but that's what happens when someone is nice to you and hugs you when you're crying it just makes the tears come harder and faster. As he cried into her shoulder, wetting her shirt she gently rubbed his back up and down with one hand whilst the other was buried in his hair doing the same.

The pair stayed silent for a moment before Aria tried to calm him down by telling him it was all going to be okay but in return all she got was Ezra shaking his head no. As far as he was concerned nothing was ever going to be okay. Not only had Maggie's lie lost him and son and also broken his heart he had lost the love of his life, the girl he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, get married to, have children with. That was all over now especially with him being her teacher once again.

Eventually his tears stopped and he gathered enough strength to let himself leave the warmth of Aria's arms. Once he had done so he wiped his eyes before speaking.

"Thank you for coming, you didn't have to" He said staring at the floor and avoiding her gaze, truth be told he felt kind of pathetic that he was a grown man and he had just cried in the arms of a teenager.

"No problem" She told him before placing her hand on his knee. At her touch Ezra looked up at her and the pair spent the next few seconds intently staring at one another. Before either of the duo had a chance to comprehend what was happening their lips were on the others in an intensely hot make out session. Ezra had one of his arms tightly wrapped around Aria's waist pulling her impossibly close to him whilst the other was tangled in her hair. Just like Ezra she had one hand tangled in his hair like he had her only her other hand was around the back of his neck holding him close.

**Originally this chapter was a lot longer but I cut it into two. This is just part 1, part 2 will come soon and pick up right where this left off. Thanks for reading, now how about leaving a review and let me know how i did  
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